Twister
by Saturnian Sorceress
Summary: Rogue reflects on her favorite childhood game and what it means to her now.


It was a really stupid thing to be upset about, she knew that.

She also knew how childish she was acting, but she figured an emotional collapse every once in a while was healthy.

Now that she was safely locked in her room, with no one to put an end to her constant thinking, Rogue realized how ridiculous the whole thing was. After all, it was just a stupid game.

It had started out innocently enough. Bobby wanted to have a board game tournament, so each of their friends had gone to their rooms and retrieved their favorite game. Several hours had passed, thanks to Warren's time-consuming favorite game _Monopoly_, by the time St. John got to use his pick, _Twister_.

Rogue cringed thinking of the minutes, and God it had seemed like so much longer, that followed. She had been grateful for Piotr speaking up, saying that _Twister_ wasn't _technically_ a board game and that they should certainly take into consideration certain player's mutant disadvantages. Jubilee had quickly shot him down, claiming that if he was so worried about crushing someone he could be the spinner. Rogue didn't miss the apologetic smile Piotr threw her way.

No one had seemed to notice her discomfort; not even her boyfriend.

As the cheap tarp with primary color polka dots was spread out across the floor Rogue had been surprised to be transported to a memory she thought she had been successful in suppressing permanently.

She was back in Mississippi and she was young, her best guess placed her around age five. Her hair was in pigtails and it was beyond hot outside, but her smiling little girl self didn't seem to care because she was with her Daddy and Mommy playing her favorite game, _Twister_. In her memory Rogue saw her Father come out of his lunge like pose on the tarp and lift her off her feet and high into the air causing her to let out a string of girlish giggles. As she was tickle attacked her Mother took a picture, the game forgotten for the moment.

The memory had disappeared almost as quickly as it had come, leaving Rogue to awkwardly stumble over an apology to Bobby, who had apparently called her name several times, before dashing out of the room claiming a sudden headache and heading towards the sanctuary of her own room.

Everyday she was forced to face her mutation, if just to protect those around her. She certainly didn't need to be reminded. Reminded of how happy she used to be, of how isolated she had become. Something as mundane as a childhood game had reduced her to a sniveling, pathetic version of the confident, vibrant girl she had been.

If she was honest she had liked games like Tag and Hide-And-Seek better than board games as a child, but as a child she hadn't had to worry about putting a friend in a coma by an accidental brush of fingers when exchanging die.

She had been a great _Twister_ player though. She was flexible and small, she could bend every which way. Some good natured tickling was always a weapon in her arsenal, reserved especially for her overly ticklish friends.

Rogue sighed and rolled onto her back on her bed, gazing at the ceiling. She was unsure of what her next step should be. She certainly couldn't stay in her room moping for the rest of the day, it was only a matter of time before someone came to check on her and with her luck it'd be Logan; she didn't want him to see her acting like a child.

And that was really all it boiled down to Rogue realized. She was no longer a child and couldn't hide behind her childhood games. She had to stop letting her memories, her fears, hold her back.

Rogue stretched and sat up, catching a glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror across the room. A small smile graced her features and she fixed her hair and adjusted her opera gloves before exiting her room and making her way back to her friends.

_Twister_ with its casual touches and its reliance on close proximity was her childhood, her life prior to her mutation, her past. It was time to grow up and move on.

She was done with _Twister_. Now she was going to try her hand at winning a new game, _Life_.


End file.
